The fifth episode of Season 15 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox, on February 10, 2016. In that episode, a Family Night dinner service took place, one chef was eliminated mid-service, and the second team switch occurred.
Intro[]
While going back to the dorms, Jackie flipped off her team in response to being nominated, but Manda reminded her that Sous Chef Christina called her the cancer of the red team. Jackie denied that and told them to ignore her if they did not like her jokey attitude. That dismayed Hassan as he had to control the women from arguing and told them to get positive for the next challenge and service, which Kristin agreed with.
Team Challenge[]
The next day, Ramsay explained how certain foods could take someone back to a certain time of year, using Thanksgiving and turkey as an example. Ramsay added that certain holidays could bring out cultural food connections such as the Fourth of July and American food, Cinco de Mayo and Mexican food, and Mardi Gras and Cajun food. For the Holiday Platter Challenge, each team had to cook three platters of the three holidays seen, with each platter containing three dishes.
The chefs had 40 minutes to create their platters, and each team broke into two pairs and a team of three. Hassan immediately got vocal with the red team and felt that he was ready to lead as he was the strongest so far, but an annoyed Dannie told him to chill out and reminded him that he just joined the red team. In the blue kitchen, Jared believed that they could still win with or without Hassan, but Alan felt that Jared was a little much due to his micromanaging and told him to focus on his own dish. In the red kitchen, Kristin felt that the Fourth of July dishes were simple enough and knew that elevating them would not be that difficult. However, Kristin stated that her difficulty was with her partner Jackie, who was confused about what to do. In the blue kitchen, Kevin believed that he was good on the jambalaya, but Chad wanted to keep a close eye on the former as he was working on two dishes, and he could have done the three himself. In the red kitchen, Ariel revealed that she went with Mardi Gras because it was her scene, and as there were five minutes left, both teams were rushing to get their third dishes ready. Eventually, both teams got their platters cooked and plated on time.
Linda Fears of Family Circle came in as a guest judge, both judges would give a point to the dish they thought was great on each platter, and Ramsay announced that the best platter from the winning team would be featured in the upcoming issue. On the first round, Jackie and Kristin presented their Fourth of July platter, but Jared asked if he just saw a hot dog with apples on top. Jackie’s beer-poached sausage with pickled red onion and apple was criticized for not working, and that dish did not score. Jackie’s cheeseburger with apple slaw was criticized for being raw and failed to score as well, much to Kristin’s annoyance. Finally, Kristin’s grilled corn with jalapeno aioli was praised for its nice kick and managed to score a point, though Joe sarcastically clapped as they scored on grilled corn. After, Joe and Frank presented their Fourth of July platter, and the latter's smoked bacon burger was praised as a true American, giving him a point. Then, Joe’s jalapeno bacon mac & cheese was praised for being elevated, and he scored as well. However, Frank’s grilled New York striploin was criticized for not being as celebratory as the other two dishes, and he did not score, making it 2-1 for the blue team. On the second round, Hassan, Manda, and Dannie presented their Cinco de Mayo platter. Hassan’s sope with refried beans was praised for being nice, and while criticized for the number of spices used, it still scored, and Ashley officially welcomed him to the red team. However, Manda’s chorizo tacos were criticized for being mushy inside and received no points. Then, Dannie’s New York striploin with grilled cactus was praised as Fears never had grilled cactus before, and she scored on her dish. Then, the team of Jared, Alan, and Eddie presented their platter, and Eddie’s chicken tacos were praised for having a really good flavor, giving him a point. Jared’s mole chilli rellenos was also praised for tasting good, and he scored a point. However, Alan’s Arroz Con Pollo was criticized for not being authentic Mexican. He failed to score, much to Frank’s disappointment. The score was 4-3 for the blue team. On the final round, Ariel and Ashley presented their Mardi Gras platter, but the latter was concerned about Ariel’s muffaletta as they never made one before. Despite Ashley’s concern, it was praised for being spot on, and it scored a point. However, Ashley’s poi boy sandwich was criticized for not being held together and did not score a point. Then, Ariel’s shrimp and polenta were praised for being cooked nicely, Ramsay said that it screamed Bourbon Street, and they scored a point. After, Chad and Kevin presented their platter, and the former knew that they had to at least score one point to make it a tie. However, Chad’s sautéed langoustines were deemed dry and did not score, and his Cajun chicken had pink inside and did not score on that dish as well. Finally, Kevin’s jambalaya had undercooked rice in it, he did not score, and the red team won the challenge 5-4. Jackie was finally happy that the red team finally won a challenge, and Hassan deemed himself the lucky charm for them. Then, Ramsay asked Fears what platter from the red team she wanted on the magazine, and she picked the Mardi Gras platter, meaning that Ariel and Ashley’s dishes would be featured, with the latter thanking every type of god she could think of.
Scoring[]
| Red Team | Blue Team | ||||
| Chef | Score | Total | Chef | Score | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackie and Kristin | 1/3 | 1 | Joe and Frank | 2/3 | 2 |
| Hassan, Manda, and Dannie | 2/3 | 3 | Jared, Alan, and Eddie | 2/3 | 4 |
| Ariel and Ashley | 2/3 | 5 | Chad and Kevin | 0/3 | 4 |
| Results | 5-4 | ||||
Reward[]
The red team was rewarded with a trip to the Santa Barbara Sunstone Valley for wine blending lessons and lunch. During the reward, Dannie was excited as the red team has not won anything in a long time. Later, they met with Bion Rice, who gave them a tour of the place, and a lesson in wine blending. Jackie revealed that she was more of a beer person but made her own Jersey juice and planned to sell it for $5.99 a bottle. During lunch, Ariel toasted the red team’s victory and welcomed Hassan to the red team, and he wanted to make sure the red team functioned the same as the blue team did. However, Dannie openly revealed she did not like Hassan as a teammate, much to Kristin’s dismay as the hateration was back.
Punishment[]
Ramsay informed the blue team that the next service was the Family Night service. Their punishment was to make hard candy, caramel, cake pops, and cookies. Frank said that he hated to lose and remarked that he would like to have won even if there was no reward. During the punishment, Sous Chef Aaron warned the men not to mess up an entire batch of candy, but Joe revealed that he never baked a cake before and struggled with finding the right bowl for his mixer. Later, Kevin commented that he might not look at chocolate the same way after that night.
Before service[]
Later that night, the red team came back from their reward, but Dannie claimed that she was the leader of the red team and did not want somebody else to jump in and take over. That caused an argument between her and Hassan as the latter felt that Dannie had a big ego, and he wanted to help his teammates shine. The argument continued in the kitchen as Hassan tried to reason with Dannie he wanted to bring what worked in the blue team over to the red. Still, when Dannie continued to talk back, Hassan yelled that all they have proven was how terrible as a team they were.
The next day, the chefs began prepping for service. Hassan was 100% confident the red team would dominate over the blue team that night. They decided to practice communication, though Dannie chose not to participate. In the blue kitchen, Alan’s poor attitude started to stress out Jared, but the former felt he was already busting his balls, and the two traded insults with each other. After, Ramsay asked Marino to open Hell’s Kitchen for Family Night.
Dinner Service[]
Millie Bobby Brown and Art Alexakis were in attendance that night. In addition to a kids' menu, a grilled cheese station was manned by Jackie and Ariel for the red team and Jared and Chad for the blue team. While Kevin knew he had a couple of hiccups in the past, he still wanted to prove to his teammates he was here to stay. However, Kevin dropped his scallops even though they took ninety seconds to cook, compared to Alan’s dishes needing five minutes to cook. Ramsay berated Kevin for screwing his teammates on their first table. In the red kitchen, Hassan compared his teammates to lionesses, himself as a cheetah, and was ready to lead them to victory. It paid off as appetizers were leaving the red kitchen. Eddie and Frank brought up their dishes in the blue kitchen, but Kevin’s scallops were overcooked. Ramsay deemed it both embarrassing and pathetic, and an annoyed Frank called Kevin a fuck up. Ramsay decided to show Kevin how to properly cook scallops, only for Joe to spill some sauce onto his flat top accidentally. That caused a small fire to erupt and forcing the blue team to start over. In the red kitchen, the red team continued to push out appetizers, and Jackie sparked up a conversation with Brown, even calling the 10-year-old girl smarter than herself due to the latter’s British accent.
Automatic elimination[]
Forty-five minutes into service, Ramsay demanded the scallops, and Kevin was able to bring them up to the pass. Unfortunately, they were overcooked and raw simultaneously, and Ramsay was more pissed as he showed Kevin how to cook them earlier. After Ramsay brought the entire blue team into the pantry room, he demanded to know what was going on and eliminated Kevin on the spot. After Kevin left, Ramsay asked if anybody else wanted to join him, told the men to get their shit together, and salvage what was left. Jared did not know what happened with Kevin on fish but did not want service to end poorly and was reassigned to the fish station.
Kevin's exit interview never aired.
Marino handed Ramsay his family’s ticket in the red kitchen, and he informed the red team that it was Marino’s daughter’s birthday. While Hassan reminded Dannie she was firing two tuna’s, she ignored him and was confident in her own abilities. However, she sent up one tuna instead of the two needed, and Ramsay was angry that nobody was on the same page. In the blue kitchen, the men were finally able to send out their first order of appetizers, thanks to Jared. Still, on their next ticket, Ramsay noticed that Alan’s risotto was soupy. While Alan tried to fix it, Jared noticed that the former put a lot of cheese on it when they were supposed to put just a sprinkle on top. As a result, Alan’s risotto was broken up and congealed, and Ramsay chewed him out for his lazy method. Dannie sent up her tuna refire in the red kitchen, but it was overcooked, and Ramsay yelled that he wanted the next attempt ready in five minutes. An annoyed Ashley told Dannie to kiss her ass as, while the latter boasted that she was the strongest chef, her mistakes that night have proven that she was not.
Two hours into service, Alan sent up his refire, and while Joe was slow on the fish & chips, he still believed that they might have a chance despite everything that has happened so far. However, Joe’s fish was raw, and after Ramsay yelled they made every possible mistake that night, he kicked the blue team out of the kitchen, with a disappointed Eddie calling their performance embarrassing. In the red kitchen, Hassan and Dannie brought up their third attempt, but while Ashley hoped there were no more fuck ups, Hassan’s New York strip was raw. That was the final straw for Ramsay, he kicked the red team out of the kitchen, and service ended as a result.
Post-mortem[]
Back in the dorms, Frank called it a disaster as the front of the train went off the rails, referring to Kevin, and the rest followed. Joe was considered for elimination due to his raw fish & chips. While Jared believed that it was a lack of leadership and accountability that slowed them down, Joe argued it was not and felt the biggest problem of that night as appetizers had more sent backs than garnishes. Despite Alan arguing against that, Jared agreed with Joe. In the end, Joe and Alan were considered the blue team’s nominees, but while Alan arrogantly felt that they picked him just for that night, Jared felt that there was no room for attitude and snide comments from Alan.
On the red side, Hassan nominated Dannie for fucking up the most that night, but when she argued that she was not the weakest chef on the red team, Kristin believed she was delusional. Then, Dannie and Jackie nominated Manda, which the latter disagreed with as she did awesome that night. Dannie considered Kristin as the second for being non-responsive on orders, even though the latter argued that it only happened once. Then, Kristin felt that she could see herself in the head chef position at BLT Steak, and if she had to choose, she wanted Jackie in her place, much to the latter’s annoyance.
Elimination[]
Eddie announced Joe as the blue team’s first nominee and Alan as the second. During their pleas, Joe admitted that he deserved to be up for elimination for that night’s service but stated that he was not done yet and wanted to learn from his mistakes. Then, Ramsay reminded Alan how his soupy risotto looked like a toilet with shit swimming in it, but he argued that he had good services before and was very passionate. In the end, Alan was eliminated for his poor performance on appetizers and his irregular performances throughout the competition. During his exit interview, Alan felt Ramsay made the wrong decision and believed the blue team lost a strong member, predicting a couple of losses for his former teammates.
Team switch[]
After Alan left, Ramsay sent Joe back in line but announced that even though Kevin and Alan were gone, he wondered how many more people would leave that night before asking the red team for their nominees. While Kristin said they did not vote for their nominees, Dannie announced the former and Manda as the weakest two chefs. However, Ashley announced Manda and Jackie as the weakest chefs, much to the latter’s annoyance, which left Ramsay confused. While Kristin claimed it was a mess, Jackie announced Manda and Kristin as the weakest chefs on the red team based on the majority, and Ramsay called the two forward. During their pleas, Manda believed she was a natural leader and a team player, even though she missed her kids. Then, Kristin called herself a strong chef, and that she took the criticism Ramsay and Sous Chef Christina gave her. But, when Ramsay asked Kristin why the red team deemed her the weakest chef, she believed it was based on the competition. After much thinking, Ramsay asked Manda for her jacket, but instead of eliminating her, Ramsay told Manda she was in the blue team.
After Manda joined her new team, Ramsay informed her that she had another chance with a team that should believe in her. Then, Ramsay reminded the rest of the chefs he was looking for a leader before refusing to have a repeat of that night’s service. While being dismissed, Manda was happy to be on the blue team as she felt she could not have dealt with another day on the red team and called them batshit crazy. Then, Eddie said the blue team had all intention of putting behind their hellish day and was glad to have Manda for a more levelled playing field. After, Kristin called it absolute bullshit she was nominated and felt it was personal for her teammates before hoping to clear them out.
Ramsay's comment: "On a night when the dining room was filled with children, it was Alan who needed a babysitter. He and Kevin should both understand I'm not running a daycare."
Ramsay did not comment on Kevin’s elimination, and he did not receive the coat hanging and burning picture sequence.